Combined hinge and door check



Om. 15, 1940. E. l..v ACKERMAN COSIBINED HINGE AND D00?. CHECK FiledDec. 2s. 1957 INVENTOR. fawafa/L../7c%ermqf7 BY ATTORNEY.

l the automobile body when the door is in the4 Patented Cet. 15, 1940COMBINED HINGE AND DOOR. CHECK Edward L. Ackerman, Detroit, Mich.,assignor, by.

mesne assignments, of one-fourth to Edward L. Ackerman,

one-fourth to Clarence E.

Blaesser, one-fourth to Chester T. Fezzey, and one-fourth to Alois J.Zwierzina, all of Detroit,

Mich.

Application December 23, 1937, Serial No. v181,2 68

(ci. 11i- 135) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a combined hinge and door check particularlyadaptable' for use in conjunction with doors of automotive vehiclebodies.

The object of the invention is to provide a hinge element having ahinged leaf provided with an arm carrying a stop and means associatedwith the arm to provide a check to releasably hold the door in apredetermined open position as is disclosed in my U. S. Letters PatentNo. 2,147,133, issued Feb.'14, 1939.

In automotive vehicle bodies, especially if the vehicle be standing onanincline or if there be a wind blowing, an open door tends to swing toclosed position. thus interferingwith the Avoccupants in getting in orout of the Vehicle and the ready removal of articles carried in thebody.'

The door check and stop is here shown asprovided in associationwith ahinge of the concealed type wherein the hinge member itself is whollyenclosed Within the sheet metal door pillar of closed position and thusthe door check ispositioned within the -walls of the body and thus isnot obtrusive or even visible either interiorly or exteriorly of thebody. Y

A further feature of the invention is to provide a bar carried by thehinged leaf attached to the l door and movable through a member having aslot as the door is opened or closed the bar having a recess formed inone face to receive a' spring pressed ball carried by the slotted memberand riding the surface of the'bar so that as 'the door is swung towardopen position the ball automatically engages in the recessl andreleasably sustains the door in an open position.

These and other features and object of the in- I vention are hereinaftermore fully described and claimed, and the preferred form of constructionof a combined hinge and door check is shown in -the accompanying drawingin whichl the association thereof with the door and the body framing ofan automotive body. V f

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 showing the door check`bar and the releasable means for sustaining it in position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section of a portion of the doorcheck.

The hinge as here shown is ofthe concealed type, it having a fixed leafI attached to awall 2 of a sheet metal pillar element 3 and a hingedleaf 4 attached to a "door elementv indicated at 5. The ilxed andpivoted leaves I and 4 are connected by a gooseneck .6 which extendsthrough .an aperture l in a Wall 8 of the pillar facing the door edge,the fixed leaf. I being introducible through the opening'I and attachedtothe wall 2 of the pillar. `The gooseneck4 portion is so formed andpositioned that, as the door is swung to the open posit-ion as indicated-by the, dotted lines in Fig. l, the said gooseneck swings out throughthe aperture and straddles the edge of the pillar wall at the apertureand the associated outer body panel 9.

I The panel 9 is recessed at I0 and the door element has a flange Ilwhich extends into the recess and the outer wall I2 of the door isattached to said flange. While the inner panel Wall of the vehicle bodyisvnot here shown, it is to be understood that the pillar 3 ispositioned within the structure here shown, an eye I3is provided on theouter face of the bend of the gooseneck 6 and to thiseye. is pivoted abar I4 'of arcuate form which extends through an aperture I5 in the wall2 ofthe pillar and also through an aper ture provided in a striker plateI6 attached to the wall 2 and preferably by the 4screws I5 by which thefixed leaf I .is'attached to the opposite face of the wall. The plate I5at one end is formed with a face I8 that lies at an angle` less than aright angle to the outer wall panel 9 in the section shown, the purposeof which angular face I8 is hereinafter described. This plate I6 has anaperture I9 having innerY and outer side walls oppositely curved as willbe understood from Fig. 1. The bar I4 of the door check rides in vtheaperture and, as the door isswung outwardly from the full line positionshown to the dotted line position, the inner and outer side edges of thecheck bar I4 ride somewhat closely tothe curved side walls of theaperture I9 and then the bar` I4 is held atall times from materiallateral displacement as will be readily understood from the drawing.

The outer end of the bar I4 'is provided with a threaded shank 20 to theend of which is threaded the nut 2I having a flange 22. The nut may beof the castellated type and secured in position by a -cotter pinindicated at 23. The washer face 22 is preferably recessed to receive anend of a rubber bumper or -stop 24. This stop 24 cushions the door inswingingit to the full open position as the opposite end of the stopengages the face I8 of the plate I6 and prevents too sudden a jar beingimposed on the hinge elements.

Itis a feature 'of this invention to provide in addition to a stop ameans for checking the door and releasably sustaining it in an openposition. For this purpose, I provide a preferably coned notch 25 in theunder face of the ,bar Il. The plate I6 has a vertical recess 26 thereinand through which the slot I9 extends at a right angle. 0n the underside of the bar I4 in the recess is positioned a ball 21 urged tocontact with the bar I4 by a coiled spring 28. 'I'hus when the door isswung to a nearly full open position, theball 21 will vseat in the notch25 and sustain the doorv against any ordinary tendency to swing toclosed position as by gravity or wind pressure but the operator mayreadily move the door from this position as the ball will readilyretract from the coned recess 26 to permit such action;

It is also sometimes desirable to have more than onereces's for theball. I have shown such recess at 29 and from Fig. 3 it will be observedthat this recess is indicated as being of less depth than the recess 25and when the ball engages in the recess 29, the door is movable fromsuch position more readily than is the case when the ball is seated inthe deeper recess 25. Thus the door may, be checked at any desirableopenposition other than the practically full open poment with theangular face I8 of the plate I6 in which position the face of the stopand the angular face I8 are in parallel relation. The face I8 will diierin its angular disposition, de-

pending upon the exact structures on which the,

From the foregoing description, it is believed y evident that thevarious objects and features of the invention are attained bythestructure described; that the described door stop and Icheck may be usedwith hinges other than the concealed type as shown, and that variouschan-ges may be made in the structure without departingV from the spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

Havingthus fully described my invention, ,its utility and mode ofoperation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is- A combined hinge and door check for the doors ofautomobile bodies having a hollow sheet metal pillar at one edge of thedoor opening, comprising a fixed leaf secured to the inner face of thewall of the pillar opposite the side thereof facing the door opening,and a hinged leaf attached `to the door adjacent the pillar, the wall ofthe pillar facing the door opening having an aperture, a gooseneckattached 'to the hinged leaf and extending through the said aperture inthe pillar and pivoted to the fixed leaf, a plate secured to the outerface of the pillar wall to which the fixed leaf is attached and havingan aperture substantially in registration with an aperture provided inthe said last named wall of the pillar, the plate aperture being ofgreater width at the plate surfaces than at the center, a door check anda stop comprising a bar movable through the said registering aperturesin the plate and Wall of the pillar and having its inner end pivoted tothe gooseneck at the bend thereof, said -bar being arcuate in form andbeing moved through the Vsaid registering apertures on an arc as the.door is swung to open position, the greater width of the aperture in theplate at its surfaces and less width at its center holding` thev armfrom lateral displacement while permitting the same to move on an arcwithout,

binding in the aperture, said plate having a recess extendingsubstantially at a right angle to the aperture and opening theretosubstantially centrally thereof on the under side of the bar, a springpressed ball in the said recess, the bar having a recess to vreceive theball as the door is swung to open position to thereby releasably sustainthe door, and a bumper carried by the bar and engageable with theapertured plate when the door is swung to full open position.

EDWARD L. minimi/IAN.l

